The Crossing

The songs on The Crossing spilled out of Sophie B. Hawkins in a way she had never experienced before in a lifetime of diverse and critically admired songwriting – yet were so closely entwined with her very being, she confesses they felt at first like secrets that needed to be kept.

Money will talk for you
Coats your tongue like sugar
Sweet lies To pacify the hunger
Money will kill for you
Lay your head to rest now
Dream of the whitest street
Clean, rebuilt for you

We're headed for big trouble
Brewing in the rubble
I won't bow to evil
I won't stoop to your injustice
You robbed the greatest people of the earth they rose their children on
And I am grateful I am in this country now
But I will never forget the land and the sea and the sky
I come from

You never fenced me in
My spirit gives you chills and
Sweeping your desert like the wind
Nations gather for a reckoning
You may be deaf but every rock and tree is listening

I won't bow to evil
I won't stoop to your injustice
You robbed the greatest people of the earth they rose their children on
And I am grateful to be in this country now
But I will never for get the land and the sea and the sky
I come from

Come on and give us a truthful tongue
We've got to make a peaceful mission from now on
I am thankful for the choices I have now
But we've got to protect the land and the sea and the sky
We come from.

The sun is coming
Your body's warm
The grass is cold
But the summer's over and I can't spend another day
Kicking down the dirt road
Georgia you're fine
You're ten feet tall
I could only love you more and more
But isn't it time we said goodbye
And I can't help crying

Georgia I love you
And I don't understand what your soul is wrapped in
Georgia I love you
Your so young and so cynical and so passive

Good lord I never
Thought that I would want it
Like every American Girl
But here I go with my red dress on
tryin' to make it in the big world
George you're a crime in ripped up jeans
You're sexier than Brad and Angelina Jolie
But somethings shakin' my bed
And breakin' in my head
And I can't stand this hopeless feeling

Georgia I love you
and I don't understand what your soul is wrapped in
Georgia I love you
You're so young and so cynical and so passive
Georgia I love you
With the world at your feet you just wash your hands
Georgia I love you
Is there some way to reach you now take a stand

And Georgia years from now
When I see you walkin'
I hope you'll stop and smile
It'll be so funny talkin'
We'll be older then
And maybe wise
And if you find what you love, baby don't comprimise

Georgia I love you
But you're casting your dreams down a well that's hollow
Georgia I love you
In your eyes your just fishing for someone to follow
Georgia I love you
In the afternoon sun will you still be glistening
Georgia I love you
Can't you hear in the distance your train is whistling
Georgia, I love you
Don't you miss me

So here I am
Wishing
We could talk about everything
I want to know
How is dad
How's your work going
I want the chance
To explain
And have you understand
Before it's too late
To ever speak again

We've been missing
For too many years
And I want a healing
In place of all these tears
God give me an answer
That I can use tonight
All I want are the missing pieces
To put back in my life

And in my dreams
I'm calling To say “New York in the spring”
And if you're there, pick up,
I don't want to speak to your machine
I hope you're well
And you're strong
And dad's not in too much pain
‘Cause my heart is filling with hope
I want to try again

We've been missing
For too many years
And I want a healing
In place of all these god damned tears
Give me an answer
That I can use tonight
All I want are the missing pieces
To put back in my life

I've been missing
And I can't stand the pain
I want a feeling
That my truth is not in vain
God give me a reason
To make it be all right
For all of the missing pieces
To come
Into
My life.

Don’t let
Fear stop me now
I can’t bear to find out
That I’ve lied to myself
And risked not asking for your help

Life is a river
And it flows to the sea
I wont sit on the banks
And let it roll on by me
I need to ride on
This glistening trail
I wont get weary
With your breath in my sails

You chose
To keep right on
I’m choosing to transform
Just like being born
We all cross the misting current
One by One

Life is a river
And it flows to the sea
I wont sit on the banks
And let it roll on by me
I need to ride on
This glistening trail
I wont get weary
With your wind on my sails

So come with me darling
(potatoe fields in summertime)
And leave death behind
(running on the beach to fairyland)
We may steal a moment
(flattening pennies on the rail)
But we wont get more time
(making you furious and running away, running away, running away) Life is a river
And it flows eternally
Don’t worry baby
Let’s go To the sea.
Hush my baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna sing you a lullabye

I'm going away
As far as I possibly can
And you wont find me
You will never ever know
How well and good I am
‘Cause you don't define me
There's people on this earth who can help me
Without using me
There's people on this earth who can love me
Without abusing me

I don't need you
Like I thought I did
I don't need you
To watch me fall
I don't need you
To make me feel like a lonely kid
I don't need you
At all

We're in the eleventh hour
And I seriously thought that we'd break through
I sat in your kitchen and cried
And underneath my words surged my love for you
I reached out my hand for you daddy
And you just turned your cool blue mind away
It's my birthday and I don't get no well wishes
Just a letter that you got some rent you think I ought to pay

I don't need you
Like I used to do
I don't need you
To save my soul
I don't need you
To make me feel sad and blue
I don't need you
Like I always have
I don't need you
To hope and long for
I don't need you
To make me feel
Mean and bad
I don't need you
anymore

Father she's playing our song
But I don't wanna dance tonight
You have just slipped away
And I'm caught inside the cage again
I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
'Cause I don't wanna fight
I wish I was miles away
Not feeling anything

You taught me to hide
Well I'm frightened of my mind
You taught me to smile
When I'm crying inside
I'm black and I'm blue and I'm wondering
Where are you
I wish I was there too
with you

Miles away
Not feeling anything
Just you and I again
Traveling for weeks on end

Father I'm slipping again
I only wanna feel my life
Raining inside my heart
Tearing nobody's world apart
And if I fly let me take you along
And if I fall let me fall in your arms
Nobody will rescue me if they don't know I'm gone
Tonight the sea is black and calm
And you are

Miles away
Not feeling anything
Closing your eyes again
Traveling for weeks on end
We were miles away
Not feeling any pain
Just you and I again
Gliding for weeks on end
Hiding
Crying
Father

Sleepy head wake up
Wipe the whiskey from your eyes
Turn and reach for me
Get hit with a surprise
My daddy didn't raise me
To get knocked around by you
Now all I have to show for love are eyes of black and blue

So I'm gone where you will never find me
Gone where I can start again
Gonna leave this lunacy behind me
Be my storie's heroine

Hey your gonna say
how crazy sorry you are
But you can tell your pretty words
to the dust of my car

'Cause I'm gone where you will never find me
Gone where I can start again
Gonna leave this lunacy behind me
Be my storie's heroine
Goin' where the sun's on my back
And my mind is in the wind
Gonna take this dance
Goin' to find a friend

Hit me once, shame on you
Shame on me if I wait for number two
Ain't exactly what you had planned?
Well you shoulda thought of that before you raised your hand
Darlin' times have changed
and a woman don't take her love in chains
Gonna be as free as I wanna be
Got my whole damn life in front of me

Gone where you will never find me
Gone where I can start again
Gonna leave this lunacy behind me
Be my storie's heroine
Goin' where the sun's on my back
And my mind is in the wind
And I'm stronger than I've never been before

I want a child
Who's little hands
I hold in mine
Who's little voice
I listen to
'til the end of time
A child to keep
Watch over all through the night
A child to love with all my might

Branches will grow
And birds will come
And life will sing
Stories like leaves
Dancing in the sun
Of an eternal Spring
A child to raise taller than the highest tree
Or if my child's a bush
It won't bother me

Summer time and the living is easy
Fish are jumping and the cotton is high
Here comes the moon
Here come the stars
Here comes my child
From Venus or Mars
Or some where far away
Where the Gods are playing cards

When you are born
Will I know your name
Recognize your smile
What will you bring
To this world of ours

Lover I
Can't say why it's so
When I hear the fog horn calling
And the moon is falling
Like snow
On the rippling road
I know
I must be traveling alone

Others cry
Can't say why it's so
When you saw the love light fading
In my eyes anticipating no
You just stopped the show
I s'pose
You will be traveling alone

When we meet again
As strangers or friends
At the intersection of Dream Street and Chance
No new romance to pretend
A lamplight floods my view
Memories flow
Or deja vous
What's the difference then
Whether I ever knew you

Mama why
Can't you say why it's so
When a child's heart torn asunder
Joins the heavens in a clap of thunder
It's gonna be a long long road home

When we speak again
As mothers or friends
On the bridal path where no time passes be
No truth to deny or defend
A castle made of stone
Forecast of rain
From the Weatherman's throne
And then puddle rainbows
Can't say why it's so

Little Red Bird
I know you're feeling blue
'Cause the black bird broke your wing
And you think you'll never soar again
But you're higher than you've ever been before
You just don't see it
Anymore
Someday you'll find out
Who you really are
You'll know why you had to fly so far away
From you're beloved park
And all the nights you flew alone into the dark
They taught you how to see with your heart

You're in bed bird
Though you're ageless in your mind
You have sailed so many seas
Now the passage is obscured from view
So close your eyes and concentrate on breaking through

Someday you'll find out
Who you really are
You'll know why you had to fly so far away
From you're beloved park
And all the nights you flew alone into the dark
They taught you how to see

And when you finally land
You'll be surprised to learn
All you've lost has been returned

So here I am
Wishing
We could talk about everything
I want to know
How is dad
How's your work going
I want the chance
To explain
And have you understand
Before it's too late
To ever speak again

We've been missing
For too many years
And I want a healing
In place of all these tears
God give me an answer
That I can use tonight
All I want are the missing pieces
To put back in my life

And in my dreams
I'm calling To say “New York in the spring”
And if you're there, pick up,
I don't want to speak to your machine
I hope you're well
And you're strong
And dad's not in too much pain
‘Cause my heart is filling with hope
I want to try again

We've been missing
For too many years
And I want a healing
In place of all these god damned tears
Give me an answer
That I can use tonight
All I want are the missing pieces
To put back in my life

I've been missing
And I can't stand the pain
I want a feeling
That my truth is not in vain
God give me a reason
To make it be all right
For all of the missing pieces
To come
Into
My life.